Page 61 of Pretend it’s Forever

“So you hurt her?” Flynn asked.

“I walked away. It made sense to walk away.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you should have found the courage to stay. To figure things out. She deserves everything and more,” James reiterated. “And you don’t deserve hell either, Carson. Maybe you need to think about that.”

And without saying another word, James dragged Flynn out of my office, and I stood there, wondering what the fuck had just happened.

I didn’t deserve more. I didn’t deserve better. Sophia deserved the world.

But I wasn’t it.

And yet...

I missed her.

“Fuck.”

That was the crux of it. I missed Sophia Cage. And I wanted her.

And I didn’t know what the hell I was supposed to do about that.

Because part of me needed her. Hell, every part of me needed her. Everything had felt so much lighter with her near, but that wasn’t how I operated. I’d done what I’d always done, and walked away before things got heavy, and now? And now I had hurt the one person who had actually seen me.

I was the asshole that didn’t deserve anything but pain. I knew that, she had to as well.

“But what the hell was I supposed to do about it now?” I asked, shaking my head.

With a sigh, I texted Rose to get the flight ready. Because I needed to go back to Denver.

I needed to talk with Sophia. Because I had made a mistake. Just like that, I had made a fucking mistake. And I needed to fix it.

Only I had no idea what the fuck I was supposed to do about it.

By the time we made it to the airfield, my hands shook, and my knee kept bouncing as we sat on the tarmac.

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” Rose asked from her seat beside me.

“Nothing,” I lied.

“So it has nothing to do with Sophia Cage?”

I frowned at her, wondering where the hell she got her information.

“I’ve worked with you for how long now, boss? We know things.”

Andy snorted from behind me. “She’s a good person. We like her. And maybe if you gave in just a little, you’d like her even more.”

“Since when do you two care about my personal life?” I asked.

“Since always,” Rose teased. “You introduced me to my wife, and I will forever be grateful for that. You might be the big bad bachelor in most rooms, but you’re also a good person. Sometimes you forget that. And I like the Cages. We’ve done so much background work on the family, I feel like I know them. Sophia? I’ve watched her dance for ages. Hell, you’re the one who introduced me to her and the ballet. She’s freaking amazing, hot, and probably too good for you. That’s why you should try harder.”

“I have no idea why I keep either one of you employed,” I grumbled.

We were up in the air then, on our way back to Denver, and I needed to figure out what the hell I wanted. Because if I wasn’t careful, I was going to break her.

Maybe I had already done so.

Sophia didn’t want anything serious or permanent, she had plainly said so, but part of me was afraid she had lied just like I had.